ABSTRACT
William Shakespeare wrote the first acts of the story of Troilus and Cressida at white heat. His Troilus was lust mad, and Cressida a natural whore, holding out until she might have him at the very summit of his passion. Shakespeare transferred his scene to the Grecian camp with the generals in council. Everything falls out wrong; hopes are failing, checks and disasters grow in the veins of the highest reared actions. Shakespeare was ready for the meeting of Troilus and Cressida, and as this was the climax of the story, he led up to it deliberately. At last, Pandarus places Troilus ready and then he leads in Cressida with greasy chuckles of satisfaction, like bawdy farmer introducing a stallion to his filly. In the Grecian camp, it is agreed that Cressida shall be exchanged for Antenor and restored to her father. Achilles stays Ulysses for an explanation; and Shakespeare used the character for his own essay on Time's mutabilities.
